This week, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, Florida Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio and U.S. Rep. Thomas Rooney viewed the damage aboard a pair of Florida Forest Service helicopters. They met with farmers in Clewiston to see the Irma’s damage and spoke with citrus, daily and sugar producers.

Statewide, the total agricultural cost of the storm will be in the billions, informal estimates suggest, the Florida Farm Bureau Federation said Thursday. Irma’s winds and rains caused widespread destruction of crops, buildings, fencing and other property. The most severe damage was in Southwest Florida.

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Especially hard hit were citrus groves from the Treasure Coast to Southwest Florida, and in the center of the state. It looks like as much as half the crop, which has been decimated by greening disease over the last few years, is on the ground.

"It was a real gut punch," Florida Citrus Mutual spokesman Andrew Meadows said after the storm. "It went up through the heart of the industry. We are getting reports, all anecdotal now. I keep hearing up to 50 percent fruit loss. Some growers are below that. Some are above that, obviously."

"Initially, we did not think there was any widespread damage. Now reports are seeping out of Southwest Florida about lost trees and standing water," Meadows said.

The Indian River region, famous for its grapefruit, also has standing water in groves. The trees will die if their roots are submerged for more than a few days.

"It was a major event; it was not good," Meadows said. "We thought this year was going to be a rebound year. The fruit looked great.

"Unbelievably, this touched every corner of our industry. We run from northwest of Orlando down to Lee and Collier counties, through the middle of the state and over onto the east coast," Meadows said.

"It’s not just citrus. It’s everybody," Meadows said.

In Palm Beach County, growers said after the storm they were waiting to assess the vast sugar cane fields that stretch for miles and total about 400,000 acres.

John S. Hundley, of Hundley Farms east of Belle Glade, said sugar cane and rice crops will be affected. The farm had no vegetables planted yet.

Barbara Miedema, spokeswoman for the Sugar Cane Growers Cooperative of Florida in Belle Glade, said: "We experienced minor damage at our site. Our main concern has been the safety of our people."

While sugar cane is flattened in some fields, and leaves are shredded, it’s too soon to predict the extent of the damage, Miedema said. The Cooperative and others are working together to get food and ice to those in need in western Palm Beach County’s Glades farming region.

Eva Webb, assistant director of field for the services Florida Farm Bureau Federation, has been visiting Palm Beach County farms and nurseries since Irma left.

South Palm Beach County farmers who produce tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, and other vegetables and herbs in the Agricultural Reserve off U.S. 441 between Boynton Beach Boulevard and Atlantic Avenue have power poles down on their farms. Without power, they can’t pump water to their fields.

Raised beds that are covered in black plastic were ready for planting, but now those beds, one of the biggest expenses growers have, must be rebuilt, Webb said.

Farmers said that without irrigation they cannot redo the beds, and they also are concerned about workers’ safety due to close to a dozen power poles that were toppled.

Webb said there’s concern that farmers might not plant because they lost money last season due to a glut of produce and cheap imports from Mexico.

At Mulvehill Nursery, in business since 1976 on 40 acres west of Delray Beach, workers were trying to stand up as many of the half million plants blown over as they could, said owner Joe Mulvehill.

"The storm took out 8 acres of shade houses. The plants that don’t have shade, the indoor plants, will all get sunburn," Mulvehill said.

The shade houses collapsed onto the sprinklers, ruining those as well.

"I don’t know if tornadoes went through. A couple of my structures did not get any damage. I have 18 acres of shade houses, and eight were damaged," Mulvehill said.

Lisa Lochridge, spokeswoman for the Maitland-based Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association, said fields prepared for planting were damaged in South and Central Florida. Tomato and strawberry fields are among those where the storm ripped up plastic ground covering and irrigation systems.

"Fields are flooded as well," Lochridge said. "As a result, the tomato crop is expected to be light at the first part of November, but volume should build and we expect a solid December. Strawberry growers expect to be able to recover quickly and stay on their timetable to be harvesting on time.

"A big concern for growers is finding available workers to help them in their recovery efforts. The labor supply was already very tight, so this is also an issue they’re dealing with," Lochridge said.

Standing water is a challenge for producers throughout the entire peninsula, the Florida Farm Bureau Federation said. Flooding has blocked access to fields and groves, and limited access to beef cattle in pastures marooned by the storm. In Brevard County, for example, an estimated 50,000 acres of ranch land are under water, likely imposing a weight loss in calves shipped for processing.

The Florida Nursery, Growers & Landscape Association said losses of plants and structures are statewide.

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